Sunday, June 18, 2006

The Braves' Run

I've seen a lot of the Braves in the last few days, of course, but I've also seen a lot of them on national TV, and I can't help but get frustrated at how people keep referring to their run of division titles as a 14-year run. I know they didn't have any playoffs in 1994, but when the season officially ended, the Expos were in first place in the NL East. If you want to say 14 straight playoff appearances, that's fine, but you can't say 14 straight division titles, because it just isn't. It's 11.

Nevertheless, their run is remarkable, but I have to say I'm not disappointed to see them struggling this year. Not only because I can't stand the tomahawk chop, but mostly because seeing a half-empty stadium in the playoffs every year is depressing. I'd much rather see a stadium full of rabid Mets or Phillies fans. So, not to jinx anything (as I post this, the Braves are in last place), but I'm going to go ahead and assume that they're done.

But they've got nothing to be ashamed of. 14 out of 16 ain't bad...

1 comment:

Warren said...

It's a wonderful feeling to see the Braves behind Washington and Florida.

I need to find out how many times a team has had a lead as large as the Mets' 9.5 games this late in the season and failed to make the playoffs. There are some famous instances of it that I won't mention in Red Sox fans company, but it's got to be a very low percentage.